The pilot phase of the mobile device management project extended to 2025

In the pilot phase of the mobile device management project that was started in October 2024, a new mobile device deployment process is being tested, in which selected applications are pre-installed on the phone. There are currently not enough pilot users, so the piloting will be extended to 2025. In addition to the Android devices included in the pilot, planning and testing of the new deployment process for iOS devices has also started in the project.

What is the pilot about?

• Testing a new deployment process where selected applications are pre-installed on the phone (e.g. Microsoft Authenticator, Microsoft Intune, Outlook, Teams, Zoom, OneDrive and Geteduroam, which is required to establish an eduroam connection).
• The pilot involves personnel from the Faculty of Arts, the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry and the Faculty of Social Sciences as well as a limited number of IT Center and University Services staff.
• The pilot will only include new Android phones purchased for the units in question during the pilot.
• The new deployment process also creates two profiles for the phone: a work profile and a personal profile. The work profile contains all the pre-installed applications, and the user can install other applications they need on their personal profile.
• Instructions and support for the deployment of the phone is available as necessary to those involved in the pilot. We will also collect feedback from the pilot in order to obtain information as comprehensively as possible about the functioning of the process for its further development. More detailed instructions will be sent to the users involved in the pilot in connection with the delivery of the new phone.

A new deployment process for iOS devices is also being explored

Only Android phones are included in the pilot, but at the same time, the project is also investigating a similar new deployment process for iOS devices. The project group will perform testing on iOS devices in late 2024.

We will provide more information about the progress of the project again in early 2025. With regard to mobile devices, the more uniform service model produced in the project is aimed at, among other things, providing a smoother user experience for university staff and students throughout the different phases of using mobile devices and taking information security and data protection needs into account better than before. The new mobile device management service model is planned to be adopted at the University in spring 2025.

Further information about the project:

Project Manager Jarkko Seppälä, jarkko.seppala@helsinki.fi.